SUPERVISOR OF ELECTIONS TO OBSERVE ELECTIONS IN JAMAICA

Basseterre, St. Kitts, February 22, 2016 (SKNIS): The Supervisor of Elections in St. Kitts and Nevis, Elvin Bailey, has been called to duty in Jamaica to be a part of the CARICOM Observer Mission to observe the conduct of general elections slated for Thursday, February 25.

In an interview with the St. Kitts and Nevis Information Service (SKNIS), Mr. Bailey noted that the timing for him to leave the Federation is off but stated that the experience should be a good one.

“It is unfortunate that I have to go at this time because today is the start of the hearings in St. Kitts and Nevis,” he said. “We in fact have quite a lot of hearings to take place, over 600, but I remain confident that the training which the registration officers have received will all go well for the conduct of the process.”

Bailey explained that although he will be absent from the Federation, he is positive that things will be taken care of.

The supervisor of elections made specific mention of hearings and stated that presently there are over 600 objections. He noted that most of them are in constituencies of three, four and nine.

“In fact, the highest single count is 171 in number 3, followed by 140 thereabout in number 9,” he stated. Most of the objections are about name changes, residency and Commonwealth citizenship status and that is allowed by law, so we have to take notice of them and make sure that the hearings are conducted as per requirement by the legislation that guides the elections and the registration here in St. Kitts and Nevis.”

He further noted that the objections for this year are great in numbers because those from 2015 had to be heard this year due to the country being in a state of flux.

The supervisor left the federation today (February 22) and will return on Monday, February 29, as the mission is expected to last for one week.